Friday the 13th: Happy Birthday Jason Voorhees

Unless you are an obsessed Friday the 13th fan like myself you may not realize that June 13th is Jason’s birthday. And this year it falls on Friday the 13th!

The original “Friday the 13th” was set on June 13th 1980 (although in “The Final Chapter” the grave for Mrs. Voorhees incorrectly says she died in 1979 – don’t get caught up in this – if you long for detailed attention to continuity this is the wrong horror series for you) and in the first flick of the franchise, the elder psychotic killer, Mrs. Voorhees tells Alice “Jason was my son, and today is his birthday”.

So how many candles would old hockey face be blowing out on his birthday cake (assuming he can get any air pressure with that gaping hole in the side of his face)? In the series we have reference to Jason drowning in 1957 (Friday VI). So how old was he when he drown? If he was born on a Friday the 13th, which might make sense given the significance of the date to the series, then he would have been born on Friday June 13th 1947 which would make the infamous cinematic slasher 67 years old!

Fortunately for fright fans Mr. Voorhees is not sitting on a beach collecting his Old Age Pension. Thirty-four years after the first film the series seems to have significant momentum with a television series (which actually involves Jason unlike “Friday the 13th: The Series” which I grew up on but was completely unrelated) and, even though it has been pushed back, it looks like we will have a new film in the franchise in 2015.

So why is this character, and this franchise, still so popular 34 years later? I am a die hard fan and I can’t explain it. Objectively I know that they are not great films, and certainly there are better horror films out there. But I certainly differentiate between what I believe the “best” horror movies are and my “favorite” horror movies. For me a big part of it is nostalgia – I grew up with these movies and looked forward to each new installment year after year. The other key factor is that, as a series, the films are much more consistently entertaining than any other series. In “A Nightmare on Elm Street” the first and third films, along with the “New Nightmare” were excellent, while Nightmare 2, 4, 5 and 6 were pretty terrible. In the Halloween series the first, second and 4th films were excellent, but the rest missed the mark. With the Friday series – Parts I through VII are all entertaining and even Part V, which is often dismissed due to the lack of Jason, has gained more appreciation with the passage of time. Everything from Part VIII on is a mixed bag at best, but producing VII consistently entertaining films is a very impressive accomplishment, and I don’t think any other horror series has that kind of consistency.

So this Friday the 13th – make sure to raise a toast to Mr. Voorhees on his birthday. Maybe play a game of pin the knife on the stereotypical teenager, take a few swings at a camp counsellor shaped piñata with a machete (just stay back at least three feet when someone is swinging – Jason always preaches safety first when wielding such a weapon) and take an axe to a hockey mask shaped cake. And if you survive such shenanigans, pop a couple of 80s classics into the DVD player (does anyone still use DVD – maybe go really old school and break out the Friday films on VHS as they were meant to be viewed). If you can only watch one – go with “The Final Chapter”; if you have time for three I recommend Part II, “The Final Chapter” and Part VI: Jason Lives. Or if you don’t get Jason’s birthday as a vacation day, call in sick and watch the original through to Part VIII and relive the 80s glory that is the original (Pre-New Line) franchise!